Here's What Does And Doesn't Get Affected In A Government Shutdown

WASHINGTON (AP) — Campers in national parks are to pull up stakes
and leave, some veterans waiting to have disability benefits
approved will have to cool their heels even longer, many routine
food inspections will be suspended and panda-cams will go dark at
the shuttered National Zoo.

Those are among the immediate effects when parts of the
government shut down Tuesday because of the budget impasse in
Congress.

In this time of argument and political gridlock, a blueprint to
manage federal dysfunction is one function that appears to have
gone smoothly. Throughout government, plans are ready to roll out
to keep essential services running and numb the impact for the
public. The longer a shutdown goes on, the more it will be felt
in day-to-day lives and in the economy as a whole.

A look at what is bound to happen, and what probably won't:

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THIS: Washington's paralysis will be felt early on in distant
lands as well as in the capital — namely, at national parks. All
park services will close. Campers have 48 hours to leave their
sites. Many parks, such as Yellowstone, will close to traffic,
and some will become completely inaccessible. Smithsonian museums
in Washington will close and so will the zoo, where panda cams
record every twitch and cuddle of the panda cub born Aug. 23 but
are to be turned off in the first day of a shutdown.

The Statue of Liberty in New York, the loop road at Acadia
National Park in Maine, Skyline Drive in Virginia, and
Philadelphia's Independence National Historical Park, home of
Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell, will be off limits. At
Grand Canyon National Park, people will be turned back from
entrance gates and overlooks will be cordoned off along a state
road inside the park that will remain open.

"People who waited a year to get a reservation to go to the
bottom of the Grand Canyon all of a sudden will find themselves
without an opportunity to take that trip," said Mike Litterst, a
spokesman for the National Park Service.

BUT NOT THIS: At some parks, where access is not controlled by
gates or entrance stations, people can continue to drive, bike
and hike. People won't be shooed off the Appalachian Trail, for
example, and parks with highways running through them, like the
Great Smoky Mountains, also are likely to be accessible.
Officials won't scour the entire 1.2 million-acre Grand Canyon
park looking for people; those already hiking or camping in the
backcountry and on rafting trips on the Colorado River will be
able to complete their trips. The care and feeding of the
National Zoo's animals will all go on as usual.

The shutdown won't affect Ellis Island or the Washington Monument
because they are already closed for repairs.

___

THIS: The Board of Veterans Appeals will stop issuing rulings,
meaning decisions about some disability claims by veterans will
wait even longer than usual. Interments at national cemeteries
will slow. If a shutdown drags on for weeks, disability and
pension payments may be interrupted.

BUT NOT THIS: Most Department of Veterans Affairs services will
continue; 95 percent of staff are either exempted from a shutdown
or have the budget to keep paying them already in place. The
department's health programs get their money a year in advance,
so veterans can still see their doctor, get prescriptions filled
and visit fully operational VA hospitals and outpatient clinics.
Claims workers can process benefit payments until late in
October, when that money starts to run out.

___

THIS: New patients won't be accepted into clinical research at
the National Institutes of Health, including 255 trials for
cancer patients; care will continue for current patients. Federal
medical research will be curtailed and the government's ability
to detect and investigate disease outbreaks will be harmed. Grant
applications will be accepted but not dealt with.

BUT NOT THIS: The show goes on for President Barack Obama's
health care law. Tuesday heralds the debut of health insurance
markets across the country, which begin accepting customers for
coverage that begins in January. Core elements of the law are an
entitlement, like Social Security, so their flow of money does
not depend on congressional appropriations. That's why
Republicans have been trying explicitly to starve the law of
money. An impasse in approving a federal budget has little effect
on Obamacare. As for NIH operations, reduced hospital staff at
the NIH Clinical Center will care for current patients, and
research animals will get their usual care.

___

THIS: Most routine food inspections by the Food and Drug
Administration will be suspended.

BUT NOT THIS: Meat inspection, done by the Agriculture
Department, continues. The FDA will still handle high-risk
recalls.

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THIS: Complaints from airline passengers to the government will
fall on deaf ears. The government won't be able to do new car
safety testing and ratings or handle automobile recall
information. Internal Transportation Department investigations of
waste and fraud will be put on ice, and progress will be slowed
on replacing the country's radar-based air traffic system with
GPS-based navigation. Most accident investigators who respond to
air crashes, train collisions, pipeline explosions and other
accidents will be furloughed but could be called back if needed.

Kristie Greco, speaking for the Federal Aviation Administration,
said nearly 2,500 safety office personnel will be furloughed but
may be called back incrementally over the next two weeks. The
union representing aviation safety inspectors said it was told by
FAA Administrator Michael Huerta that nearly 3,000 inspectors
will be off work. Greco did not confirm that.

BUT NOT THIS: Air traffic controllers and many of the technicians
who keep air traffic equipment working will remain on the job.
Amtrak says it can continue normal operations for a while,
relying on ticket revenue, but will suffer without federal
subsidies over the longer term. FAA employees who make grants to
airports, most Federal Highway Administration workers and federal
bus and truck safety inspectors will also stay on the job because
they are paid with user fees. Railroad and pipeline safety
inspectors will also remain at work.

___

THIS: About half the Defense Department's civilian employees will
be furloughed.

BUT NOT THIS: The 1.4 million active-duty military personnel stay
on duty and under a last-minute bill, they should keep getting
paychecks on time. Most Homeland Security agents and border
officers, as well as other law enforcement agents and officers,
keep working.

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THIS: The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women,
Infants and Children, known as WIC, could shut down. It provides
supplemental food, health care referrals and nutrition education
for pregnant women, mothers and their children.

BUT NOT THIS: School lunches and breakfasts will continue to be
served, and food stamps, known as the Supplemental Nutrition
Assistance Program, or SNAP, will still be distributed.

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THIS: A shutdown that lasts two weeks or more would probably
start to slow an already sluggish economy, analysts say. Closures
of national parks would hurt hotels, restaurants and other
tourism-related businesses. And federal workers who lost pay
would spend less, thereby curbing economic growth. A three-week
shutdown would slow the economy's annual growth rate in the
October-December quarter by up to 0.9 of a percentage point,
Goldman Sachs has estimated. If so, that could mean a growth rate
of 1.6 percent, compared with the 2.5 percent that many
economists now forecast.

BUT NOT THIS: Little impact on the economy if the shutdown only
lasts a few days.

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THIS: Economic data will be interrupted as the Bureau of Labor
Statistics ceases almost all operations. This will leave the
stock market without some of the benchmark economic indicators
that drive the market up or down. The key September jobs report,
due Friday, could still be released on time if the White House
authorizes that, but that's not been determined. Statistical
gathering also is being interrupted at the Commerce Department
and Census Bureau. This means the government won't come out on
time with its monthly report on construction spending Tuesday or
a factory orders report Thursday.

BUT NOT THIS: The weekly report on applications for unemployment
benefits is still expected Thursday. The Treasury Department's
daily report on government finances will be released normally and
government debt auctions are to proceed as scheduled. And at
Commerce, these functions continue, among others: weather and
climate observation, fisheries law enforcement and patent and
trademark application processing.

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THIS: Some passport services located in federal buildings might
be disrupted — only if those buildings are forced to close
because of a disruption in building support services.

BUT NOT THIS: Except in those instances, passport and visas will
be handled as usual, both at home and abroad. These activities of
the Bureau of Consular Affairs are fully supported by user fees
instead of appropriated money, so are not affected. As well, the
government will keep handling green card applications.

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THIS: The Federal Housing Administration, which insures about 15
percent of new loans for home purchases, will approve fewer loans
for its client base — borrowers with low to moderate income —
because of reduced staff. Only 67 of 349 employees will keep
working. The agency will focus on single-family homes during a
shutdown, setting aside loan applications for multi-family
dwellings. The Housing and Urban Development Department won't
make additional payments to the nation's 3,300 public housing
authorities, but the agency estimates that most of them have
enough money to keep giving people rental assistance until the
end of October.

BUT NOT THIS: It will be business as usual for borrowers seeking
loans guaranteed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which together
own or guarantee nearly half of all U.S. mortgages and 90 percent
of new ones.

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THIS: Possible delays in processing new disability applications.

BUT NOT THIS: Social Security and Medicare benefits still keep
coming.